1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to banks and more particularly to toy bank devices for receiving and depositing coins within the bank device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toy banks have been known to the prior art for a great number of years and have exhibited various designs and constructions. Many of these prior art banks included novel means for inserting a coin within the bank. Many of these prior art devices included animals or human-like forms mounted for movement relative to the bank for inserting the coin within the bank. The fundamental theory behind the use of animals and humanlike forms is to interest children in the operative mechanism of the bank and thereby encourage the insertion of coins within the bank and accordingly develop a habit of saving money. One distinct disadvantage of these prior art mechanized banks was the complexity of the mechanism and construction of the coin inserter. These banks were expensive to manufacture and did not obtain widespread use in the art.
Others in the prior art have provided toy banks made of foldable sheet material such as cardboard for constructing a bank upon assembly of the cardboard member. Such a bank was easy to manufacture and distribute at a very reasonable cost but unfortunately lacked the interesting mechanism by which the coin is inserted within the bank. The prior art has failed in providing a low cost toy bank device which may be assembled and which incorporates a unique and interesting mechanism to insert a coin within the bank.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the pertinent art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins comprising a base member and a support member securable to the base member and having coin insertion means mounted relative to the support member and adapted to receive the coin and mechanically insert the coin within the base member.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins constructed of plastic members having a plurality of locking means for enabling assembly of the members into an interlocking structure. Alternatively, the toy bank device may comprise a plurality of paper members having locking means for enabling assembly of the paper members into an interlocking structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins having a coin insertion member including a sloping surface established relative to the support member enabling the coin to move along the sloping surface by action of gravity to be inserted within the base member orifice and to portray the movement of a skier down a ski slope.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins having a coin insertion member which is pivotably mounted relative to a support member with the support member and the coin insertion member being established to represent the mouth of an animal which receives the coin.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins wherein the coin insertion member is pivotably mounted relative to the base member for inserting the coin within the base member with the coin insertion member being established to represent an animal such as a squirrel climbing up a tree for inserting the coin within the bank.
Another object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins wherein the coin insertion member is mounted for movement relative to the base member along a substantially linear portion and including a curved portion for tilting the coin insertion member at the end of the linear portion to insert the coin within the base member.
A further object of this invention is to provide a toy bank device for receiving and depositing coins wherein each of the constituent members is a die-cut portion of a paper, or plastic material with each of the members having tab means and slit means for enabling assembly of the members into a substantially rigid structure through cooperation of the tab means and the slit means.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.